In the High Peaks
















Saturday, January 2, 2021

New Reads Off the Shelves for the New Year

 As I'd hoped, I browsed my bookshelves and book stacks and piles today. I'm so glad I picked up a book from one of my all-time favorite authors, Paul Auster. Somehow or other I purchased A Winter Journal back in 2012, but never read it. And what a wonder it is! Pieces of memoir, yes, and reflections on singular moments in his life, all through his life--though not linear. He makes his personal your personal. This afternoon I fell in love with his writing all over again...wondering how does he do it? How does he make the personal in his life speak directly to me in my life? WOW!! I have always considered Paul Auster one of my favorite authors of all time, but haven't read anything by him in the past 7 years. I'm fixing that! It's true he's only written one novel in this time, but I've ordered it from the library. Title:  4 3 2 1.


7 comments:

  1. Judith, A Winter Journal sounds similar in style to my first book of 2021, Sleepless Nights, Hardwick, which I really enjoyed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Diane,
      I'm so very curious about Sleepless Nights, since you have written about it! I have been aware of the author for some years, but have never read anything of hers. I MUST DO!

      Delete
  2. I don't think I have read anything by Auster. I have had a copy of The New York Trilogy for years, which includes City of Glass, Ghosts, and The Locked Room. Maybe I will get to the first of those novels this year. Although the book is buried in a box in the garage, which I need to go through some time this year. Which is what I said last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tracy,
      I think The New York Trilogy is a wonderful, fantastic way to start reading Auster.

      Delete
  3. Auster has been on my "authors to try" list for years. What a good idea to start the year by reading a favorite writer. Any suggestion on where I should start?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JoAnn,
      So many great books--and I have never read an "off" book by Auster. Thus said, I wonder if starting with his New York Trilogy would be a great place to begin. I have an incredibly fond memory of this trio (which can be read as a single novel, although three short novels). Ken and I were returning to home to Boston after three glorious days in NYC, where at a small used bookstore on the upper West Side, I picked up The New York Trilogy. We had reservations for the train, but it was over-booked, and it looked like standing room only for us. Ken desperately needed a seat (because his MS was acute at that time), so I pushed a seat on him and went to the cafe car, where I stood sipping coffee and reading New York Trilogy all the way to Providence. The novel held me so enthralled that I did not know I was standing for hours--. In Providence, a kind man offered me his seat, which I gladly and thankfully accepted, but we were nearly home by then. In any case, it is an incredible tribute to Auster that I hardly knew I was standing for over three hours.

      Delete
    2. What a lovely story, Judith! I have put The New York Trilogy on my list. Thank you.

      Delete